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With hp34970a, How does RS-232 connection work in this application?

I need communicate a device hp34970 with PC with RS-232, then I don't know how? This communication, Is in real time? or first I scan with device and then I take this information to PC? I thank some ideas.
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Hello IMMA,

Thank you for contacting National Instruments.

RS-232 is a single-ended data communication method, meaning it uses a single wire for transmission (two wires total - one wire is used to transmit and one to receive). You will need to use a serial cable, such as a null-modem cable, to pass data between your instrument and PC. RS-232 is also an asynchronous form of communication, which means it uses software and hardware buffers in lieu of a synchronizing clock. It will allow you to send commands to your instrument while receiving data at the same time.

To communicate with your HP34970 in LabVIEW using RS-232, you will need to use the Serial functions located on the Functions >> Instrument I/O >> Serial palette. There are a few useful exa
mples included with LabVIEW that demonstrate how to use these functions. You can locate these examples by going to Help >> Find Examples and searching with keyword "Serial." In most cases, you will configure your serial port, write a command to your instrument, receive data back from your instrument, and close your serial session.

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, have trouble finding the examples, or need more help with serial communication, let me know!

Matthew C
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
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Thanks Matthew. But I have an other question, I work with Labview v.5.0.1, then is possible that in Labview v.6 the configuration of serial port to communicate hp34970a to the PC were in bloc of Initialize.vi of hp34970a driver? Is more easy this communication with Labview v.6?
Thanks for your help.
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Hello IMMA,

There is a serial interface driver available specifically for the HP34970A. You can find this driver by using the following link:

http://zone.ni.com/idnet97.nsf/9b2b33e1993d877786256436006ec498/e4c553c139f78062862568ab005fba3c?OpenDocument

This driver may be easier to use since it is designed specifically for your instrument. However, you will need to upgrade to at least LabVIEW 6.0 to use it.

Once the driver is installed, it will create a new function palette in LabVIEW that contains a set of VIs designed specifically to communicate with your instrument using a serial port. You can find this palette by going to Instrument I/O >> Instrument Drivers. You will use these VIs in a similar fashion to how you would use the S
erial VIs: configure and initialize a connection >> write >> read >> close the connection.

I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions or need help using the HP34070A drivers, let me know.

Matthew C
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
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My Labview is v.5.0.1. I can't communicate de VI's of hp34970A with
datalogger. I don't know how configure the serial channel related with
these VI's.
Thanks a lot.
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Hello,

Although we do not officially support LabVIEW 5.0.1, I went ahead and converted the 6.0 version of the driver to 5.0. You will find the majority of the VIs in the hp34970A library, but you will also need to reference the hp34970U library when trying to open the driver VIs.

Furthermore, some of the VIs will need minor edits before they will run. Most of these edits will involve refums and error handling. Just dig down into the sub-VIs and make sure everything is set up correctly. I went ahead and edited the Multifunction Example.vi to give you an idea of how they should be configured for serial communication.

I hope this helps out. I would, however, still strongly recommend upgrading to the latest
version of LabVIEW.

Best Regards,

Matthew C
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
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